Duck Lake hollow ashes

Ever since her run-in with the Indra look-alike Laurel hadn't been the same. She had grown to seem indifferent about life in the recent months, ever since Indra had passed away. Charles' departure went unnoticed at first, and then once she realised he was gone it infuriated her that he would leave without saying a word, just like his siblings. Did none of them care about their mother? She thought of what she would do to him if she would see him again. She wished that she had had a child and that that child had been Indra's reincarnation, rather than the nasty child that had run away from her in the field. How could she ever get close enough? She couldn't, she'd lost her sister again. The only thing she could think to do was —

get pregnant —

murder the child on the day of the conception —

— wish and hope that one of her children would be Indra's new incarnation.

But how could she simply murder Indra, even if she didn't know that she was Indra? The thought was absurd, even before considering this was a child who couldn't help being Indra's vessel. But at the same time, she was.

She is.

And maybe her idea wasn't so crazy.

Maybe your idea isn't so crazy.

And for the first time, she agreed with the snarling voice in her head just a little bit.

But she was alone, and since the pup did not belong to Easthollow, she feared of what that might mean as she thought of her nasty nephew. How could she ever get such a thing done? Not alone.

She thought of Xan as she walked up to the lake and lapped at the water. Would he help her? She considered travelling and seeking out the help of others, but what did she have to offer? Except your luscious body — Except what she didn't want to give to begin with? Why would anyone help her?

She didn't want to be broken anymore, even though she had little fate that she could ever be truly un-broken. She didn't want to be empty anymore, though she wasn't sure she could ever be fulfilled. The cracks were simply too deep, the seams too harshly torn apart by all that had transpired.

Laurel frowned into the lake as clouds overhead predicted more rain. But for now, it was dry.